Safety snap hook



May 22, 1923. 1,456,264

H. BILLMEYER SAFETY SNAP HOOK Filed April 1922 I 7 7 Harrq BiHmeqer INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY Patented May 22, 1923.

HARRY BILLMEYER, OF WASHINGTONVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY SNAP HOOK.

Application filed April 5, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY BILLMEYER, a citizen ofthe United. States, residing at lVashingtonville, inthe county of Montour and State ofPennsylvania,have invented a new and. useful Safety Snap Hook, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to snap hooks.

The object is: to provide a hook of this class for use in connection with different parts of harness, which may be easily and quickly operated to engage aring or other device by a single operation and to effectually prevent the accidental disengagement of the ring when the parts are connected.

Another object is to provide a simple and cheaply manufactured hook, of this class, wherein the said ring or other part may be readily removed from the hook by simply pressing upon a lever to compress a retaining spring and to remove a guard arm. outv of the path of movement of the ring, when a'free and open passageway for the latter is provided without any projecting parts to interfere with, the quick disengagement of the ring; from thehook.

A full and complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a consideration of'the following detailed description, taken in connection: with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification; it being understood that while the drawingshowsa'practical form of,- the invention, the latter is not confined to strict conformity therewith, but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modiiications mark nomaterial departure from the salient features of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures:

Figure 1 is a: side elevation of the improved hook having a ringconnected therewith;

Figure 2'is a longitudinal, sectionalview of the same, the locking'lever being depressed to-remove the guard arm out of the path of movement of the ring, the latter being shown inthe actofremoval;

Figure 3 is-a side elevation of'the hook showing the position ,of the parts when the ring is about" to leave the hook, said ring being in section;

Serial No. 549,673.

Figure & is a top nected hook and ring;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a slightly modified form of the invention.

In the drawing there is illustrated a snap hook having a body member 1, provlded at one end with a spring socket 2, and an integrally formed loop 3 for engagement with any part of harness, the parts, as thus far described, being of ordinary construction. f

Mounted in the socket, in the usual manner, 1s a stiff steel leaf spring 4, having its ad3acent end 5, returned to lie fiat'upon the bottom of the socket and to be retained therein by opposed, inwardly-directed lugs 6, the other end of the spring being elongated to extend towards the other end of the hook, the free end of'the spring normally lying in spaced relationto the body of the hook. The socket portion of the base is wider than the forwardly extended shank 7 which, at'the front end is returned to form a ring-receiving'loop 8, having an internal diameter to receive rings of difi'erent sizes. Integrally connected with the-100p 8 is an upwardly and rearwardly extending arm 9, the rear end of which lies substantially in line with the center of the base o-f'the hook and in spaced relation to the same, forming a projection'at 9. At the rear end of this extension, asocket 1.0 is formed, open at the rear end and bottom of. the same toward the shank 7, and adapted to receive a bellcrank lever provided with a hub 11, having an actuating arm 12, and a' guard arni 13, arranged substantially at right angles to each other and formed integrally with said hub. The hub is mounted between the walls of the extension comprising the socket 10, and the several members are suitably apertured for the reception'of. a horizontally disposed pivot pin 14. The actuating arm 12 normally lies in a horizontal position or parallel with the body member, the free end of the spring 4 bearing against the underside of the arm 12, and having its terminal in close proximity with the hub of the bellcrank lever, the guard 'arm extending perpendicularly across the space between the base or shank of the hook and the end of the extension 9. The free endiofthe actuating arm 12 is provided with an enlarged head 15 to facilitate gras'ping'by, thumb or plan view of the confinger of theoperator, and thesame is rounded so as to prevent the different parts of the harness from catching thereon, and the guard arm 18 is slightly tapered and curved forwardly at its lower end where it terminates in a relatively narrow edge adapted to swing down into a depression or seat 7 formed in the upper face of the shank of the hook for the purpose.

When the bell-crank lever is rocked by pressing downwardly on the actuating arm 12, the lower end of the guard arm 13 is swung forwardly and upwardly and abuts against the projecting portion 9 at the junction of the ring loop 8 and the adjacent, lower portion of the extension 9, as shown in Figure 2, thus preventing the ring R from accidentally entering the space above the arm 13, so that the said ring is free to be passed rearwardly, above the free end of the spring, pushing the actuating arm upwardly and thus caused to be disengaged from the hook. The forward, free end of the spring, by being extended suiiiciently forward to engage the bell-crank lever near to its pivotal point, is thus made sufficiently long to strike against the upper face of the shank when depressed by the free, headed end of the arm 12, and thus effectually prevent the ring from passing beneath the said spring.

In Figure 5 a slightly modified form of the hook is shown, wherein the ring loop 8 comprises the entire end of the hook, the

shank being bent in a semi-circle to return upon itself and terminating in the socket member as in the first described form of the invention.

In snap hooks, as heretofore constructed, the depression of the retaining spring, which is usually quite stiff and powerful, has depended upon the pressure of the thumb or finger of the operator, and this interferes with the free passage of the ring or other attached part, besides being difiicult for some persons to accomplish. Those hooks having bell-crank or other levers for increasing the power to compress the retaining spring, generally require a second operation by the hand of the operator to free the end of the spring from contact with the said lever, in order to provide a passageway for the ring, and since one hand is engaged in holding the hook while the other is engaged in passing the ring rearwardly from the loop of the hook. more or less trouble is encountered.

In order to avoid these difficulties, the present snap hook has been devised, whereby the harness ring, or other part, may be quickly and easily engaged therewith by simply passing the ring over the end of the hook to vbear upon the spring and by a forward pull on the same, cause it to compress the spring and to pass between the free end thereof and the actuating member of the bell-crank lever, thence abutting the guard arm and rocking the same forwardly to pass beneath the end of the same and to find free access to its seat in the front end of the loop of the hook.

In like manner the ring may be as easily detached from the hook, as it will be seen that by the depression of the spring, through the pressure of the hand of the operator upon the actuating member of the bell-crank, the latter is depressed and forces the end of the spring into contact with the base of the hook so that the ring finds no interference thereby, and in the meantime, the guard arm of the lever has been raised out of the way of the ring, as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, and the said ring may be freely passed backwardly to strike the actuating arm, rocking the latter and thence slipping out between the same and the free end of the spring. 1

From the foregoing itwill be seen that a simple snap hook structure has been provided, which may be readily manufactured at a low cost, having few parts to become deranged, and having effective means for preventing the accidental disengagement of a ring or other part of harness to which the hook may be connected, and that the said ring may be easily placed within the hook by a single pressing action of the same, or dis engaged therefrom by simply pressing the lever by the finger and moving the ring in the proper direction.

What is claimed is:

1. A snaphook comprising a, body hav ing a ring loop with a socket in the end thereof, a leaf spring carried by the body and having its free end terminating adj acent to said socket and adapted to be depressed to contact with the inner face of the body, and a bell-crank lever having arms substantially at right angles to each other and pivotally mounted in the socket, the outer arm being adapted to normally extend outwardly from the socket and substantially parallel to the body and to rest upon the free end of the spring to depress the same, the inner arm of the lever extending across the space between the socket and the body, said lever being rockable to a position where the outer arm, bearing against the spring, forces the free end thereof against the inner face of the body and the inner arm extends substantially parallel to the free end portion of the spring and contacts with the ring loop to guide the ring into the space between said inner arm and the free end portion of the spring.

2. A snap hook comprising a body and a hook, having a contracted ring-receiving loop, an upwardly curved arm providing a projection at its junction with the ring-receiving loop, and a socket at the free end of the hook which opens toward the body, a leaf spring fitted within the body and having its free end extended upwardly from the body and terminating adjacent said socket, a bell-crank lever having arms substantially at right angles to each other and pivotally mounted in the socket beyond the end of the spring, one arm being adapted to normally extend outwardly from the socket and overhang the free end of the spring and contact with said spring when depressed, the other arm of said lever extending across the space betweeen the socket and the body, the latter having a seat to receive the end of said arm,

said arm being adapted to contact with said projection when the lever is rocket so as to guide the ring outwardly between said arms and above the free end of the spring.

In testimony, that I claim the-foregoing as my own, I have hereto atfixed my signature.

HARRY BILLMEYER. 

